Belt

[Steady Eddie]

I have a 2005 2500 Sprinter, Is anyone else having problems with their belt? I am on my 5th one this year. Two in Jan.,6800 miles about, one each in June and Jul, and one a few days ago. About the same last year. Had all pullies and tensior replaced in Jan, the first failure, was told I had the wrong upper idler pulley and had the correct one installed. That belt lasted 10,887 miles, and for the sceond time it took out the transmiison coolant line. That replacement lasted 14,000 miles, this time I was able to replace the belt before it failed, it was just starting to split. Had the lower idler pulley replaced and new belt.

I replaced the vaccum pump as it had oil coming from the front cover, tech said it was dripping onto the belt. He thought it may have been the injector pump leaking, but it was fine.

:I'm at a loss here and no one can find out why.

Note: 5 different Dodge repair shops, any ideas will be welcomed!

 

[davekc]

Oil dripping on a belt could potentially cause it to slip a little but not come off. Hard to say without looking at it but my suspicion would be the pulley assemblies are out of alignment somewhere.
Even more so if you had the tensioner/idler pulley replaced.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

the more I think of it Eddie...I think you have too much wobble in the tensioner...I think the belt is jumping off the track abit under running conditons...

History: Eddie and I were side by side comparing a running engine same model, same year...his tech said mine by the sounds of it is ready to fail because it's suppose to wobble abit naturally....mine is pretty steady, his wobbles visually!!

 

[davekc]

That would do it. When a load is put on the engine it will move it out of alignment. If it is doing that all the time, that would certainly put excessive wear on the belt.

 

[Steady Eddie]

the more I think of it Eddie...I think you have too much wobble in the tensioner...I think the belt is jumping off the track abit under running conditons...

History: Eddie and I were side by side comparing a running engine same model, same year...his tech said mine by the sounds of it is ready to fail because it's suppose to wobble abit naturally....mine is pretty steady, his wobbles visually!!

If you remeber, it was not a wobble, it was a slight side to side, like it was getting loose the tighting up on the belt's travel, the tech said it was normal. I can't beleive that. Like I said, all Pulleys and Tensioner have been replaced twice this year.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

If you remeber, it was not a wobble, it was a slight side to side, like it was getting loose the tighting up on the belt's travel, the tech said it was normal. I can't beleive that. Like I said, all Pulleys and Tensioner have been replaced twice this year.

wobble= side to side.....thats what I meant...
I really think it's jumping in and out of track area...that weird wear pattern on the underside of belt...maybe a quarter turn more torque?

 

[greg334]

Did you keep the old pulleys and tensioner?

If not always do.

I am thinking that there is something out of line, Alternator, PS pump maybe. I don't have my sprinter manuals with me, but it seems that if you are ripping up belts the alignment is off on the engine.

If the tensioner has play in it laterally, meaning any lateral movement perpendicular to the belt, then the tensioner is defective. If the tensioner is not seated correctly on block, even a few degrees it will rip up a belt.

The other thing is A/C unit, it is has been worked on, like a new bearing. One of my Dodge trucks ripped up two belts because the pulley bearing was not seating right, wrong clutch unit was put on and the bearing was tilted by a few degrees.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

the movement is side to side...lateral to the belt...causing a loseness when it moves in toward the belt....and thats just at idle speed....it wears on the inner(closet to engine) 2 ribs first and starts to shred...
Mine however has little movement and HIS tech says mine is going bad???? Yet my belt shows no wear after 150,000 miles..

 

[greg334]

the movement is side to side...lateral to the belt...causing a loseness when it moves in toward the belt....and thats just at idle speed....it wears on the inner(closet to engine) 2 ribs first and starts to shred...

Which type of movement?

1- |
<-------> |
|

2 -
^ |
| |
|

Not Very good at this text illustration stuff. The first one is perpendicular to the belt and the second if Parallel to the belt.

The first one is what you don't want. The second is alright to a point.

I don't know about 'techs', but it sounds like a mis-alignment of the pulleys more than anything else, but the misalignment of the units (PS pump etc.. ) could also cause this. If it starts on the inside. It may be one pulley is twisted off by (*guessing at the amount) ten degrees towards the front of the van at the centerline of the engine (if that makes sense?) The belt is coming on to a pulley with the edge of the pulley cutting into it when it should be coming onto the pulley almost straight. I think the tolerance is 2 degrees.

It is not hard to mis-align things if one is replacing pulleys or doing work that requires any removal of anculary things, like PS or air pumps.

This truck's tensioner bounces when the air comes on or if I hit the exhaust brake while above an idle - which is normal and doing it's job. The spring keeps the tension on the belt without snapping it when under load.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

The second one...parallel...and noticeable in idle...hard to see up and down when your looking down...remember he had ALL pulleys replaced so if one is off only 2 degrees and the other is off 2 degrees it all adds up.....

 

[greg334]

Well when I mean out of alignment, I mean when the pulley is mounted on the shaft, it is mounted not straight on the shaft but bent on the shaft.

I seen this with PS pumps when they were pressed on the shaft with new pumps, the pulley is pressed incorrectly (sometimes the idiot operating the press doesn't use the right tools to press it on) and it is really hard to see the problem, but using a dial indicator is the only real way to find the problem.

 

[ExpedTrucks]

Hey Steadie Eddie,

I have been to many sprinter dealers and have a small fleet myself. The best one out there I would rank with expertise is CLEVELAND area. Check them out - Great Northern Dodge
They will even let you watch them fix your vehicle with no BS

 

[Tempest]

I have an 05 in the shop now getting a new engine ($12,000 installed ) It started with belts getting chewed. The crank pulley finally went out and we had it replaced. 3weeks later the pulley went again with damage to the crankshaft. This is a known issue at chrysler but they wont recall. There are a few sprinter forums out there and you will find belts/pulleys on pre '06 sprinter because of the balance point on the crank. You might consider getting your crankshaft and pulley checked before you need a new engine as well.